How to Use a NorthStar Slab Roller to Roll Clay Slabs -a Demonstration

So, I shot this video on my first day of summer after the kids were gone, and my classroom was cleaned out for summer cleaning and construction! I wanted to have a video to show my students how to use our slab roller table in the ceramics studio to make an even, compressed slab for building. I don't show methods of constructing with the slab, but I have numerous other videos on that which you may find handy!
My slab roller is made by the NorthStar company- the same one which makes our extruder and the wonderful ware carts. Their products are top-notch, and I wouldn't hesitate to outfit another studio with them. (No compensation for saying this... totally unsolicited- I just like their stuff) www.northstareq... I have the super slab roller- the big one! I don't have the undermount shelf or the wings, as I normally keep a cart of bucket glazes under it. (Not in the video though, as I mentioned, it was the first day of summer, and I had the stuff cleaned out of my room already for the construction.)
Anyway, in this video, I try to give the most handy pointers I can to help students learn how to successfully roll slabs in clay with the roller. If you would like more details on how to roll using a rolling pin and slab sticks, I have numerous other videos showing that!
After gradually lowering the top roller, and flipping and rotating the clay between the canvas pieces- the final step is to compress your slab. In the video I use some of the Sherrill Mudtool ribs. (My favorite!) www.mudtools.c...
Also, in the video, I show a slabmat. Check it out at Slabmat.com
It is a handy surface to use in lieu of canvas for a super smooth blemish free surface when rolling. The product has an old website printed on it... this is the updated one! I also have written a caption in the video mentioning I sometimes use just heavy interfacing which you buy in a fabric section. (That is sewable interfacing, not fusible!) These work really well to roll on with a rolling pin or the slab roller!
I am a public high school ceramics teacher at William Mason High School in Mason, Ohio. (Mason is currently the largest high school in Ohio!) As a potter, I have been working in clay for over 30 years, and I have been teaching for over 28 years, the past 20 have been specifically teaching high school ceramics. I love what I do! I have my own studio in my home basement, where I work on my personal pottery for my Etsy site; www.etsy.com/s...
I started my KZbin channel a few years ago, to make videos to help my students if they are absent and miss a demo, or if they would like to explore more advanced techniques independently. I have been amazed to reach such a wider audience than my own students!
For a list of my FAVORITE TOOLS, check out this link to a Googledoc with lots of my favorites on Amazon using my associate links! docs.google.co...
Please subscribe to my channel if you would like to receive channel updates, or would like to learn more about clay and studio processes!
Please stop by my Etsy shop www.etsy.com/s... to see my personal work!
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[@marykowalski7349]

How I wish I had been at your high school because your clay teaching is OUTSTANDING.

[@margiefleming6678]

What a wonderful teacher you are! You explain everything so well! Lucky students!

[@axerxes3981]

Excellent video !! You have he most delightful way of explaining things and keeping them simple at the same time. Guess that's what makes a good teacher, LOL. Thanks for sharing....... Ax

[@KaransPotsAndGlass]

Awwww! Thank you!!! :-)

[@warrensanders5738]

Great Video, thanks from a fellow art teacher. I just got a small Brent, and it's not quite as fancy as yours, but I'm hoping it will get the job done. Like you, I like wedging boards and pin rollers, but I have students that can't roll a slab properly, so I'm hoping my new slab roller will be a good tool for them to make good pottery.

[@kristinhanson3060]

Uh-oh-you mentioned never putting anything through this. When I made tiles, I rolled the clay sandwiched between canvases, but directly under the clay a piece of plain newsprint paper, on top of a piece of drywall w/taped edges-and then let the clay get leather hard on the drywall before carving. Hopefully I didn’t break anything tonight!

[@KaransPotsAndGlass]

Oh- that sounds like you wouldn’t have broken anything! Worst case scenario may have resulted in cracking the drywall!? My darling students have tried putting things like pencils or knives in it which don’t have as much give! Lol!

[@tiffanygagnier434]

Fantastic demonstration thank you

[@YouthfulYogis]

Very helpful, thank you!

[@HerbariaSoap]

Great teacher!

[@rang....-._.-....0.]

Do you think this can double as etching press please... with good quality felt blankets ?

[@KaransPotsAndGlass]

I guess? I've never tried it with it. And I haven't done etching for over 30 years! :) . I think you'd have to have boards too, if I remember?

[@rang....-._.-....0.]

@@KaransPotsAndGlass Thank you. I am scratching my head if this can be made to work for printmaking. If so, I'll save good money over etching press of this size. Also, I hope the textured roller wont be a problem when used with good blankets.

[@rang....-._.-....0.]

@@KaransPotsAndGlass If I may persist... do you think if I lay a polymer sheet on bottom roller, it will lay flat across the slab roller inbuilt bed(s) on either side of bottom roller and the bottom roller itself and slide forward or backward with the crank movement ? Thanks in anticipation !

[@KaransPotsAndGlass]

@@rang....-._.-....0. I honestly don't know- sorry- I can't picture it! :)

[@MrMarbles0Xecution]

Thanks for the demonstration. I’m wondering what could you do with that?

[@KaransPotsAndGlass]

Anything you want to make with slabs! Here is a playlist of textured slab videos to show just some of what you can do! Best Textured Slab Videos- Ceramics II- with Focal Accent. kzbin.info/aero/PLj0pNzEmvM_r9a5f85ZyTrqrP3SmHFKQS

[@MrMarbles0Xecution]

thanks

[@mariannehansen2691]

Why not pick up the slab with the cloth under it? I would think that is a lot more stable than using hands and arms to support.

[@KaransPotsAndGlass]

You certainly could... but in my room, my canvas is so enormous- it really is much bigger than my students need to transport it! (I really want my kids to know how to pick up a slab!) . :)

[@shtdontstank]

yooooo my class has one